After many years of dreaming, scheming and then Anton having time to actually build it – the greenhouse of our dreams has arrived into our garden and we are in love.

We’d always earmarked this spot for our eventual greenhouse but lacked the time and resources to make it happen. So for the past 5 years we’ve been happily using a small cold frame Anton built (see below) which worked great. You can read about that adventure here and here. But we always knew it was temporary. So a few months ago Anton ripped it out and got busy building the bigger version of it.

Design considerations

The greenhouse is approximately 6m x 3m with the long edge facing the equator (that’s north for us) for maximum sunlight. We have two sliding doors at either end for good cross ventilation plus a wax strut operated roof hatch that automatically opens once it gets too hot in there. How? The basic idea is that as greenhouse heats up, the wax expands which triggers the opening mechanism. When it cools, it retracts which prompts it to close again. It’s got a lot of roof space due to the pitched roof so we’ll be training up long vines into the space using wire and strong string.

The foundations: Because of our steep slope building it involved a lot of work to get the foundations right. It’s fair to say that doing anything on a steep slope is slower, more expensive and just generally harder and this project was no exception. We did concrete strip footings which are 1.3m at the deepest point and .4m at the most shallow corner. This is because we (aka Anton) had to dig down until we reach subsoil to the foundations would be resting on solid ground that won’t shift. Once the footings were dry we (aka Anton) started building the two long rectangle garden beds from recycled red bricks. The brick is a wonderful material as it’s durable, has a compact footprint and acts as thermal mass to hold more heat for the surrounding plants. Win, win, win.

We sourced recycled and local hardwood timber from a local saw miller for the frame, recycled windows for the walls with the shady side (facing away from the equator) clad in corrugated iron. This back wall will eventually have some mesh shelves on there where we’ll raise seedlings.

How much did it cost us?

We reckon it cost around $4000 in materials plus all of Anton’s talent, tools and time. Definitely not a small amount, yet significantly cheaper than buying one that would be a similar size and strength. And dare I say it – this one is just heaps better (like heaps) than anything you’re going to buy “off the shelf” and also doubles as a work of art. So it’s a life investment and one we’ll be benefiting from for the rest of our lives.

We’ve noticed that as well as being a happy warm plants for plants to thrive, it’s also a ripper of a place for a cuppa, a beer or for some book reading on a chilly spring day which is currently our reality. So we’re all thriving too, thanks greenhouse – you’re our new favourite room to live in!